Gameplay

House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn was just announced four days ago and its already already getting location testing in Japan. Thankfully for us, Throwback Tokyo has captured some of the first footage of the game in action for us that live outside of Japan. The game shows off a cutscene featuring the new main protagonist Ryan Taylor and returning protagonist from House of the Dead 4 Kate Green. It seems from the little dialogue that we have gotten that this game takes place after the events of House of the Dead 4, making it a direct continuation.

Just like the past House of the Dead games, the game is voiced in English and has Japanese subtitles (instead of getting Japanese VO). For those of you wondering, yes, the voice work is super cheesy just like the classics. Personally, you can’t have a good House of the Dead game if it doesn’t feel like a cheesy B movie and so far from the little footage shown, this game is hitting its marks. According to other online users that went to play House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, SEGA had a survey asking users if they would be interested in a console port. I will have to say, hell yeah!

For SEGA fans that are big fans of the First of the North Star (Hokuto Ga Gotoku) series, SEGA of Japan have now done a long form stream showing off over an hour of gameplay. As you can tell from the gameplay, Hokuto Ga Gotoku is very much a licensed Fist of the North Star game built on top of the Yakuza 0 engine. This isn’t the first time that SEGA has done something like this, Yakuza Kiwami was built this way. I just find it weird that they kept a lot of the same UI design from the Yakuza series, would have been cool to see reworked maps and other UI designed by the manga creator instead of just reusing the Yakuza look.

Hokuto ga Gotoku is coming out on PlayStation 4, in Japan on March 8 with a standard and “Century’s End Premium” edition. SEGA hasn’t mention anything about this game coming out outside of Japan… fingers crossed!

A new Sonic Forces gameplay video has released showcasing a classic Sonic stage titled Casino Forest. The video description reads as follows: “Classic Sonic enters the Casino Forest, ancient ruins currently being converted to a casino by Eggman. But it’s not all fun and games as perilous traps line the ancient facades.”

While the stage does look like a combination of assets from Sonic Generations Casino Night Zone DLC and Sonic Lost World‘s Silent Forest, it does look like fun and I love the combination of tropes. What do you think of the latest Sonic Forces reveal?

[UPDATE] The official Sonic the Hedgehog channel has released a new video of the tag gameplay, seen above. After the break, check out the Japanese stream video.
[UPDATE 2] New screens after the break!

With Sonic Mania released to the masses (well, aside from the PC version) Sonic Forces details have begun to release via Famitsu and Gamescon, and while I expect something from SEGA of America soon, I didn’t want to pass up newsing the new mode revealed for the game. In addition to Classic Sonic, Modern Sonic and the Custom Hero the game will include a Tag mode where players control both Modern Sonic and the Custom Hero, giving players the opportunity to see their creation running alongside Sonic.

At the moment, only a Modern Sonic team-up is confirmed, no word on Classic teaming with the Custom Hero. The Tag mode allows players to use both Sonic and Custom Hero’s abilities, meaning you can speed and boost like Sonic, and use the Wispons. Also, as seen in the video after the break, the duo will have the opportunity to fist bump into a special boost mode in which the vocal theme Fist Bump plays. If you’d like a peek at the controls, take a look at this Twitter post. Nothing too revealing, but it’s worth checking out.

Other details revealed include confirmation that Sonic Forces will be at Tokyo Game Show with special guests and new content and, as confirmed by SEGA, Sonic Forces is set to release November 9th, 2017 in Japan.

SEGA has posted a new Initial D Arcade Stage Zero trailer showing off gameplay using the iconic Toyota AE86 car. The cool thing about the Initial D Arcade Stage Zero gameplay trailer is that they also show the player shifting, pumping the gas, slamming the breaks, and turning the steering wheel as you see how it effects the game. The trailer is also pretty long, showing a full race including a in-game track that features some very Japanese ‘Engrish’ vocals. Outside of that, Initial D Arcade Stage Zero is sporting some non-spectacular graphics, but I don’t think that’s the selling point with this game. Did I mention that the drifting looks fun? Because it does.

This isn’t the only trailer Initial D Arcade Stage Zero got, SEGA Japan released two at the same time. The second trailer is rather shorter clocking in at just under a minute and a half. This Initial D Arcade Stage Zero trailer highlights its versus mode, car customization, arcade cabinet, gear shift, and much more. For fans of the series, this game is exclusive to arcades with no plans of it coming to consoles. Yeah, its a bit sad. If you wanna see the second trailer hit the jump.

SEGA has just released over a minute of gameplay showcasing Classic Sonic’s Green Hill Zone stage in Sonic Forces and… tell me again why this was said to not be Sonic Generations 2? The clip should feel very familiar to those who played the 20th anniversary game back in 2011, right down to the models and assets, though there are a few alterations. The background features a sandy area and enemies are new. Also, the music is new to my ears, though I swear I caught a whiff of Sonic 4‘s Splash Hill Zone.

Eagle eyed fans may catch a glimpse of a bubble shield and it appears Sonic performs a Drop Dash, Sonic Mania‘s signature move, at 1:25.

Check it out for yourself and share your thoughts in the comments below. Also, after the break check out some newly released screens!

Welcome to yet another SEGA News Bits, this time we celebrate the fact that we will never have to say the name Sonic Project 2017 ever again. That’s right, it was revealed at SXSW that the game is being called Sonic Forces! On this episode we discuss our thoughts on the Sonic Forces name, first details revolving around Sonic Forces‘ gameplay and other predictions based on what we have seen so far. What is your opinion on Sonic Forces? Do you like the name and are you happy that we are finally seeing a glimpse at the gameplay? Let us know in the comments below.

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We finally got some new Sonic Mania gameplay, boss and more revealed. So on this ‘BREAKING‘ episode of the SEGA News Bits George and Barry sit down to discuss our thoughts on the new information, what Sonic Mania means to other SEGA fan game creators and how the game is being advertised compared to Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Like always let us know what you think of the new Sonic Mania gameplay that has been revealed in the comments below. While its not a new stage, having new Sonic Mania gameplay is always nice, right?

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In the latest reveal for the upcoming Sonic Mania, Sonic the Hedgehog brand social media manager, Aaron Webber, gave a special first look at Green Hill Zone Act 2 and how transitions work between acts similar to Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The second act of Green Hill Zone demonstrates a new mechanic such as the zip line, interactivity with the elemental shields to enter secret routes, and reveals a much closer look of the mountains and waterfalls in the background.

Aaron also noted that the background layout of Act 2 is a reference to the early prototype of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. While the boss for Act 2 cannot be revealed at the time, Aaron has mentioned that are brand new badniks introduced in Sonic Mania known as the Hard Boiled Heavies and Heavy Gunner which have been revealed on the Sonic Twitter account and are detailed in a new article from Game Informer. What are your thoughts on Green Hill Zone Act 2? Feel free to leave a comment below.

For the video without the commentary and artwork of the new badniks, be sure to hit the jump below.

Hey, Polygon did something right! While yesterday footage of Sonic Mania‘s new zone Mirage Saloon released, the video featured commentary meaning we could not hear the sweet Tee Lopes music and retro sound effects. Now, Polygon has uploaded footage of Knuckles in Mirage Saloon Zone. Aside from showing off some new areas in the stage, we get a good listen to the music which features a very Ennio Morricone sounding “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” whistle.

Check it out for yourself, and in the comments below let us know what you think of the new zone and music!

SEGA has streamed about 7 minutes of Puyo Puyo Chronicle gameplay showing off its action puzzle RPG elements that has gotten me so excited to play it. The stream was part of their ‘Sega-Nama’ live streaming show hosted by Toshihiro Nagoshi. If you missed it we posted about Puyo Puyo Chronicle‘s the announcement, first trailer and even had a whole SEGA News Bits episode talking about the game.

Puyo Puyo Chronicle will be heading exclusively to the Nintendo 3DS and will release in Japan on December 8, 2016 for 5,490 yen ($54.77 USD) which is actually a bit less than a full price Nintendo 3DS game in Japan. No Western release has been announced thus far, but you never know. We did get 7th Dragon III Code VFD.

The Japanese site 4Gamer.Net has posted a 15-minute gameplay video of the upcoming Etrian Odyssey V ahead of its Japanese release, which is August 4th. The video shows off new characters, creation system and features each of the ten classes that will be selectable when the game hits shelves. If you have a Japanese 3DS you can now access the Etrian Odyssey V demo!

Sadly SEGA or Atlus haven’t told us when Etrian Odyssey V will be heading outside of Japan. I guess you have to stay tuned to our site and we’ll let you know as soon as its announced. For now enjoy the Etrian Odyssey V gameplay video and envy the people in Japan.

I warned you the other day that Atlus was teasing seven new announcements for Persona 5 during its Premium Event Niconico stream. Well, that happen earlier today and what did they announce for Persona 5? A ton of stuff, including showing off the first 18 minutes of gameplay from the game. Want to catch all the action?

Atlus has officially premiered 15 minutes of Persona 5 gameplay during its live stream this morning. This is just a teaser for tomorrow’s big Persona 5 Premium Event being held in Japan, that promises SEVEN new announcements! The footage above shows returning skills, fishing mini-game (froggy?!, movie date with Futaba Sakura and lots more.

SEGA and Relic Entertainment have now shown the first glimpse at gameplay for their upcoming game Dawn of War III. While the first trailer they showed had a dark paint like art style, making some fans think that was going to be what the game looked like. It seems the actual game will have a more ‘comic book cartoon’ like art style. Also surprising to see how much color the game has, which in my opinion is a good thing.

I know Dawn of War III isn’t on every SEGA fans radar, but what do you think of the gameplay shown? Let us know in the comments below.